The Definitive Guide to Mego 8" Super-Heroes by Benjamin Holcomb

Holcomb Mego Collection Auctions at Hake's Americana

After a very successful initial auction in June 2011, Benjamin Holcomb and Hake's Americana are proud to announce the second wave of collectibles from the Benjamin Holcomb Collection. Auction #204 is scheduled to take place in October. Hake's has posted a Mego sneak preview on Facebook, with more items surely to be added as the auction draws nearer. Be sure to follow Hake's on Facebook to stay abreast of news and information regarding upcoming vintage toy auctions.

For additional information about the Benjamin Holcomb Mego Collection and to register for bidding, please visit Hakes.com.

From Hake's:

Benjamin Holcomb began collecting Mego toys as a boy in the mid-1970s. As a teen in 1986, just three years after the toy manufacturer's bankruptcy, Holcomb ordered the very last Mego figure inventoried by iconic retailer "Heroes World." And while "Heroes World" misplaced and never shipped that 12" Mego Hulk figure, Holcomb did preserve documentation of the sale, a journalistic tendency that would later serve him well.

Nearly three decades after commencing his collecting adventure, Holcomb set out to produce the definitive guide to his favorite toy company and action figures: Mego Corporation's "World's Greatest Super-Heroes" line. Published by TwoMorrows in 2007, "Mego 8" Super-Heroes: World's Greatest Toys!" is considered by many to be the high-water mark of collectible tomes. Hake's is pleased to offer items from the Benjamin Holcomb Collection, many of which are the actual examples that appeared in his book, "Mego 8" Super-Heroes: World's Greatest Toys!"

Who is Reading World's Greatest Toys?

According to Mego-head Larry Roberts, guitarist for Metal band November's Doom:

"When it was due for release, I mentioned [the book] to a lot of Mego and toy collectors in the [death/metal music] scene. Among them were Charlie Benante and Scott Ian of the band Anthrax. [Charlie] and Scott were pretty amazed with the book, although I think Charlie is now hoping for [a new] book that'll feature Planet Of The Apes Mego [toys] as well!"

Larry added:

"I can't tell you how many people in the [metal] scene my buddy, Willie (who took the picture of Charlie) and I have spoken to, who said, "Oh man I've seen that book, it's amazing!" or "Yeah, I picked up that book already!"

This is too cool. I love Anthrax. Beyond the kick-ass music, I will always appreciate the band's ground-breaking collaboration with the similarly fearless and brilliant Public Enemy. At a particularly turbulent time in 'popular' music, the guys in Anthrax dared to push Hard Rock into then-unknown territory: Hard-Core Rap… forever establishing a place in the hearts of countless music fans.

I am absolutely floored to learn that my personal music heroes are down with the book. I am humbled and honored.

The book is here. You are here. Let's have fun!

UPDATE: AS OF 2012, THE BOOK IS SOLD OUT. After-market copies may still be found on other sites, but the Publisher, Twomorrows, and all of our distributors are SOLD OUT.

I am leaving the following links in place for posterity, but they may be invalid. World's Greatest Toys! is available for purchase from the publisher, online retailers, comic book shops and specialty stores. Both Borders and Barnes & Nobletechnically sell the book, but they expect customers to 'special order' it. Rather than supporting these retail chains' faulty status quo, I endorse purchases from TwoMorrows.com (the book's publisher, which also offers the exclusive Collector's Edition), or Amazon.com.

Heck, rather than support Borders or Barnes & Noble, I'd prefer you buy it from some cretin on eBay who probably misspelled my name. Seriously:

Mego collectors are nothing if not nostalgic. We love to recollect about the so-called good ol' days, sharing tales of now-rare collectibles seen hanging on store shelves at staggeringly affordable prices. Even if our parents thought Mego toys were kind of expensive in the 1970s, those prices are nothing compared to what the toys sell for today. I thought it would be nice to compile a list of retailers that sold Mego toys back in the day. Many of these stores as (sadly) long gone. It's a fun romp through history. Do you remember your favorite toy store?